Fair to reach 600,000 attendance?

Attendance this past Saturday set a new record with 116,532 people passing through the gates. That broke the old record of 109,603 set on first Saturday of the fair in 2009.

Through Monday night, attendance stood at 230,388 since the fair opened this past Friday. Mondays attendance was 24,812.

Of course, there is much to see and do at the fair. If you missed the concert by country music entertainer Joe Diffie on Monday, presented by Bates Ford, you had the chance Tuesday night to attend the Bluegrass concert with award-winning duo Dailey & Vincent, presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.

Dailey & Vincent are three-time International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year. They are nominated once again for 2012s Entertainers of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year by the IBMA. Jamie Daily has also been nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year.

The Great Give-Away was to be held Tuesday night as well with a lucky ticket holder to have his, or her, choice of 2012 Ford Focus from Bates Ford, a 2012 Chevy Malibu from Wilson County Chevrolet, Buick, GMC; a 2012 Hyundai Veloster from Wilson County Hyundai, a 2012 Jeep Patriot from Rockie Williams Premier Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep; a 2012 John Deere 5045d Tractor and Loader; and a 2012 Kubota RTV 1100 with cab and air from Lebanon Kubota.

A Gospel Concert, presented by Bates Ford, is set for 6:30 tonight in the Wilson County Exhibition Center (Building Y) at the fairgrounds. Scheduled to perform are Jeff & Sherri Easter, Ivan Parker and The Triumphant Quartet.

Others set to perform tonight include country music entertainer, and Lebanon resident, Johnny Carver, at 6:30 on the Community Stage; Alfred Marcelli at 6:30, the Martinez Family at 7, Steve Edmondson at 8 and Kari & Billy at 8:30 on the Entertainment Stage; and Jimmie Bowman & Santa Fe from 7 until 10 at the Fiddlers Grove Back Porch Stage.

There are pageants, demonstrations of various kinds, livestock shows and more each night, as well.

The always-popular Demolition Derby is set for Friday and Saturday, and the stands are always packed for this event.

And dont forget funnel cakes, corn dogs, hamburgers, turkey legs, popcorn, ice cream, water, soft drinks, lemonade, and so on from a number of concession stands.

Moss reiterated that the fair is celebrating corn as the agricultural commodity this year. He noted that someone was serving corn-flavored ice cream and that someone else entered Corn Wine in the Wine & Home Brewing competition.

You cannot have a corndog without corn, of course, and you cannot have grits, either. Er, dont forget to pay a visit to the grist mill in the Fiddlers Grove area. Thats where they grind corn.

The fair is bigger and better, Moss said. Its all here at the Wilson County Fair.